Garage-door opening and closing device.



w. B. LAHR., T. F. ZEALAND @L n. E. BOYER.

GARAGE DOOR OPENINGFAND CLOSING DEVICE'. APPLICATION man mme, 19.15.

Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

ZYSHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented M1111. 7,1916. l

ZYSHEETS-SHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED IAN-29, 1915.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT onirica.

WILLIAM.B.BLAHR,`THOMAS F. ZEALAND, AND ROLAND E. BOYER, OF LAKEWOOD, OH'O.

GARAGE-DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 29, 1915. Serial No. 5,013.

`new and 'useful Improvements in` Garage- Door Opening and Closing Devices, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for antoinatically'opening and closing doors, gates and the like, through which vehicles pass.

Y The main Aobject of the invention is to "provide apparatus particularly adapted for garages, whereby an approaching automobile willopen the doors to permit the entering of theniachine, and after leaving .thea garage the doors willzbe closed in like manner by the automobile, thus making it unnecessary for the driver or other occu,` pant of the automobile to deinount `for the purpose of opening or closing the garage s doors. This is not only convenient, but also Aavoids. the `necessity of stopping and again starting the machine, thus saving time.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device `of the above character,`

.whch will lock the .doors in ei'tlier their closed or open position.A

`A further object of the invention is to provide .a devicethat is p acticah is inexpens .in construction, and is easily iny stalled.:

lVtlitlie above and'` other objects in view as willbe readilv understood. the invention will )c hereinafter fully described in connection with the acconiilmnyiug drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, and; the novel features of the invention will be` distinctly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the `drawings likev characters of I'efi erenee vdenote similar parts.

Figure l is a plan sectional view of a garage having a pair lof swinging doors witliour invention applied thereto, Fig. 2 isfan` elevational` sectional view, taken on line 2-2 of lilig. l, Fig.` 3" is a front elevationofthe operating mechanism installed at the side of the garage, `Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of a portion of the mechanism shown in Figr, Fig. 5 is a cross sectional .view `taken on line of Fig. 1, Fig. 6

is a, sideelevation ofthe farriage supporting` fra'me,and Fig; 7. is a perspective view ofloneof the forked lever members?` Referring tothe drawings, l represents the frontend wall of a garage, 2 its side walls, and 3 the ceiling thereof. The usual swinging doors indicated by 3 are hinged to the front endwall as shown at 4 to swing outwardly. To each of the doors near the top is pivoted, in any suitable manner as at 5, a rod or arm G, the inner free end of which is bent downwardly at 7 to pivotally engage eyes 8 extending laterally from a slidable block or carriage 9. A frame consisting of end brackets u10 carrying spaced guide bars 1l, is arranged longitudinally of the garageand is fixed to the ceiling 3 thereof. The carriage 9 is giooved longitudinally at 12 to fit over the inner edges of the guide bars ll, whereby it is slidably supported from the ceiling by said f ame lVlien the garage doors are in their closed or fully open position, it is desirable to lock them affainst movement caused bv wind. 'lhis is accomplished by means of pawls 13 and l-Lrwhich are pivoted to the frame and suitably suspended by springs 15. Said pawls are adapted tol engage a central post 1G projecting from the top of the carriage 9, and their noses are beveled at 17 so that when the post strikes the saine,

the pawls will be raised to permit them toA engage said post. In order to release the carriage, oppositely arranged forked lever members 18 and 19 are pivoted to the sides thereof at Q0, and their upturned ends 21 are adapted to engage said pawls for lifting' o0 them out of engagement with said post as will be hereinafter explain-ed.

Attached to the forward forked lever ineinber 1S at Q2 is a rope 23, and to the rear forked lever member 19 a. rope 24;, which ropes pass under sheaves 25 supported by the end brackets l0, through openings QU thereof, and then over pulleys 27 carried hv the ceiling; toward one side` of the garage and pass over pulley wheels 28 supported on a cross-har 29, which is fastened to the Side of the huilding. side 30 of a floor bracket 3] is a central vertical bai-BQ. and arranged at each side thereof in spaced parallel relation thereto are short vertical bars 33. which are secureh7 fastened to'the rear side of said bracket and also to a' cross-piece S4. A large disk or `wheel is rotatably mounted between the Patentea Mar. 7,2191 e."

The ropes Q3 and 24 extend Fixed to this cross-har and to the rear' cated atv 37, areL pivoted pull-bars 38 and 39,

which carry rollers 40 and 41'respectively .at their upper ends. i

said rollers project through thefspaces be- The pivot pins 42 of tween the central bar 32 and the short bars 33 and are adapted to' slide therein. Suitable washers and nuts on the ends of thel pivot pins, as indicated at 43, retain the parts in place. One of the before mentioned ropes 24 after passing over the `pulley wheel 28, passes under the roller 41, then extends upwardly and over` a sheave 44, which is supportedin an opening 45 of the vertical bar 32. The free end of this rope then leads downwardlyback of said bar and is @connected to along coiled spring 46, which is ,attached to the rear side 30 of the floor bracket. The other rope 23, after passing y over the' pulley wheel 28, passes under the aol roller40 and thennpwardly, .its free end being fastened at 47 to the otherl rope,24.

' The purpose of the coiled spring 46 isto pulley upon a plate 55 embedded in the ground, and pivoted to this plate is a suitable trip 56 having an arm 57, to Which is securely fixed theA upper line of said cable. Another trip 58, Similar to the `trip 56, except.y that it is reversed, is pivoted to a plate 59, also embedded-in the earth, and to its arm 60y is also fixed the upper line of the cable. One trip 58 stands vertically while the other trip 56 lies horizontal, and they are adapted to be actuated alternately-by the Wheels of an automobile for Opening and closing the garage doors.

When the doors are closedthe otherparts of the mechanism are as shown, and it will be particularly noted that the pawl 13 engagesthe post 17 to lock the carriage 9 in position, and the tension being off the rope 23', the heavier weight of the upwardly .turned end portion 21 of the forked lever member 18 will cause its other end to be thrown upwardly. As an automobile approaches the garage, its wheels will pass over the first trip 56, but when its forward wheel strikes the vertical trip 58, this last trip throws its arm' toward the garage, thereby moving thc upper line of the cable 48 in the direction of the arrow. This will rotate the disk 35 in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon, and the pull-bar 38 is forced downwardly. As soon as said pull-bar begins to move, the roller 40 exerts a downward pull upon the rope 23, 'which action causes the forked lever member 18 to Arock upon its pivots andtake the horizontal positionl The pawl 13 is thereby lifted out ofengagement with the post 17, and the carriage 9 is pulled forwardly, thus forcing the rods or arms 6 to push the doors open, as` indicated by dotted lines. It will lbe noted.' that the pull-bar 39 will havebeen forced' upwardlyythus giving slack to the rope124, and the trip 56 will havefassumefl the vertical position, whilezthe trip 58 will` have taken: the horizontal,` position during. the opening ofthe doors.- I f The doors are closedby theautomobile when leaving the garage, by its; forward wheel striking the trip ,56 ythrowingfit in. a,

direction away from the garage.r This moves the cable 48 in the oppositedirection tothe arrow, and the pull-bar4 39 exerts a downward pull vu-pon the rope 24. i `This .bringsthe forked lever member 19. vtoits horizontal 'y position, the pawl 14 is disengaged, and the. carriage forced toslide rearwardly, thereby pulling the doorsclosed. 1

As will be understood., the doors-maybe-t closed or opened by stepping upon the trips,l

orthey may be manually swung'open orl shut.-l Also that slightl changesA in the l details of constructionl and .arrangement `of parts may be made within the scope ofthe claims.. ,i

Having fully described our invention,-

1. In a device for operating doors, theA combination of rods pivotedfto the.y doors, a movable carriage, therods'being pivotally connected to` the carriage, a disk, pull-barsA having one of their ends pivoted to thedisk, means for guiding the otherends of the pullbars, ropes connecting the pull-.bars tothe carriage, and means adapted tobe actuated by awheel lof a .vehicle for rotatingsaid disk tooperate the doors, substantially as described., y n

2. In a devicefor operating doors., `the combination of rods pivoted to the doors, a movable carriage, the rods being pivotally connected to the carriage, `a disk, pull-bars having one of their ends pivoted tothe disk, means for guidingthev other ends of the pullbars, rollers carriedby the pull-bars, pulleywheel arranged above each roller, a sheave located above the rollers, a rope connected to one end of the carriage', -the rope passing over one of said pulley-wheels, then under one of said rollers and over said sheave, then extending downwardly and having its free end connected to an anchored coiled spring,

a second ropegconnected to the other "end of the carriage, the second ropek passing. over the other of said pu1ley-wheels,l then the other of said rollers and having its free end fastened to the first mentioned rope at a point above itsroller and below said ysheave,

and means adapted to be actuated by a Wheel ,of a vehicle for rotating said disk to operate the doors, substantially as described.

3. In a device for operating doors, the

'combination of rods pivoted to the doors, a

movable carriage, the rods being pivotally `connected -to the carriage, means for lock- "mgtbe carriage 1n its extreme positions, means for disengaging the locking means carried by the carriage, means adapted to be actuated by a wheel of a Vehicle for moving the carriage, and ropes connecting the last mentioned means to said disengaging means whereby vthe tension of the ropes will cause the disengaging means to act upon the locking means for Areleasing the carriage, substantially as described.

4. In a device for operating doors, the combination ofV rods pivoted to the doors, a movable carriage, the rods being pivotally connected to the carriage, pavvls for engaging the carriage When at its eXtreme positions7 lever members pivoted to the carriage and adapted/to be normally in a tilted position, means adaptedto be actuated by a Wheel/of a velicle for moving the carriage,

andjropes/connecting the last mentioned means to the lever members whereby the tension of the ropes will cause the lever members to take a horizontal position and disengage the pawls to release the carriage,

` substantially 'as described.

1 passing around the Worm-reel andcarried by the idler pulley, and a right and left trip adapted to be actuated by a Wheel 'of a vehicle for moving the cable to cause rotation of the disk and thereby operate the doors, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM B. LAHR. THOMAS F. ZEALAND. ROLAND E. BOYER.

Witnesses: l, i SARAH C. GALLAGHER,

JAS. lLoUIs SMrri-r. 

